Can The Drought Be Snapped?

March 15th, 2025

Impact.

Joe didn’t know the drought was this short. Seemed like it began a decade ago.

Who knew that when Bucs sacks king Shaq Barrett racked up 10 sacks in 2021 as the Bucs tried to run it back for a second-straight Super Bowl-winning season, the Bucs would stop having a guy who had double-digit sacks.

But that’s what happened. It seemed like the Bucs were ready to have a guy grab the baton from Shaq and be the team’s sack artist. But Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, drafted 32nd overall in 2021, never panned out.

He signed with Cleveland this week.

Mike Jones of The Athletic seems to be a big believer that newly signed edge rusher Haason Reddick should snap that ugly streak. Or at least come close.

Jones gave the Bucs a “B” for signing Reddick, and Jones seems to blame Reddick for his 2024 holdout and never gelling with the Jets.

Jones has the Reddick signing as the 25th-best signing this past week.

Joe’s goal for Reddick is 10 sacks; that’s all there is to it. If he could get 12, that would be fantastic. Shoot, eight would be an upgrade.

If Reddick has 12, that tells Joe others on the Bucs’ front line of the pass rush are getting after quarterbacks, too. If Reddick has 12 sacks, teams will start shading coverage to try to slow him down.

And that means less manpower devoted to blocking Vita Vea, Calijah Kancey and YaYa Diaby.

Cha-ching!

23 Responses to “Can The Drought Be Snapped?”

  1. Thisisouryear!! Says:

    I think this takes the double team off YaYa. I think we’ve got two Edge rushers that get 10 sacks.

  2. Pewter Power Says:

    I pray last year was a fluke because 2-3 people were getting injured every week

  3. BucsBeast Says:

    As long as the pass rushers actually rush the passer, we should have a pretty decent line. I never want to see Vea or Kancey in coverage ever again.

  4. Mort Says:

    I like our front 7. He solidifies the role Yaya needs to have, which is the second best OLB. Problem is that there isn’t any proven depth, but after the draft I think that’ll look a bit better too.

  5. MadMax Says:

    I love that we got him…fills a huge hole. But going through mock draft simulators, sometimes we can land james pierce jr and sometimes not. Green is always there and sometimes jihaad campbell

    But most of the time, Emmanwori is there in the 1st and Shwesinger in the 2nd..and if i try to go past them, they’re scooped up quick. I think im on it.

  6. BucsFanSince1996 Says:

    I give the Bucs an A+ for signing Reddick. It will upgrade the entire defense when he’s on the field.

    Licht got him at a great price, didn’t have to give up any draft capital, and the timing is perfect. Reddick will come in motivated on that one-year prove-it deal, knowing his next contract is going to make him a fortune if he has a decent season. Also, he’s got a great attitude about helping the other young pass rushers on the team. His true market value is double what they’re paying him.

  7. MadMax Says:

    84 Edge Kyle Kennard
    121 CB Zy Alexander
    157 DT Jamaree Caldwell

  8. Tony Says:

    @ThisIsOurYear

    If many noticed things opened up alot more for Yaya the last couple of weeks when they brought Shaq back. Sure he wasn’t playing that much but teams knew they had to worry about him now. Tryon wasn’t gonna do much so all they had to worry about was Yaya so he was gonna get all the attention whereas when Shaq came back it opened everything up for him. Same with Reddick. It should be the same. As long as Bowles stops dropping everybody out. They should still resign Barrett for a year or two.

  9. Tony Says:

    @ThisIsOurYear

    You know you stink Tryon when teams are more worried about the guy just coming out of retirement off the couch over you.

  10. Bucswin! Says:

    And Shaq comes roaring back and we have two double digit sack guys. And Ya Ya gets 9 in a heartbreaking miss for 3 guys getting double digits. During another Superbowl run. LFG! Why not? #teampositive Go Bowles! Is it July yet?

  11. Kenton Smith Says:

    SOLD!! Cha-Ching!!!

  12. First Last Says:

    I really hope we bring Shaq back and then skip Edge in the draft so we can pick up LVD’s replacement. Maybe a CB and a WR if a good one falls to us.

    Reddick and Shaq might be able to take Yaya and Braswell to the next level. I know Shaw doesn’t look the same but maybe after his injury and family loss he has found the juice to play again.

    Yaya is a beast but needs to expand his moves. If you want his highlights versus Reddicks, Yaya is just using pure brute strength to get to the QB. There is nothing special there. If he learned to be more twitchy he could get 10 sacks.

    I’m very hopeful for the defense this year

  13. heyjude Says:

    Great article about the NFL free agency good, bad, and ugly grades. Thank you for sharing. Godwin got an excellent grade too. So happy we have both. Yes, ten sacks by Reddick would be awesome, 12 even better.

  14. Hodad Says:

    YaYa rarely won when he wasn’t double teamed. He’s one Buc who needs to step up his game. If year three of YaYa is like year two, he’s a bust. With Reddick taking more doubles YaYa needs to break out this season.

  15. Defense Rules Says:

    BucsBeast … ‘As long as the pass rushers actually rush the passer, we should have a pretty decent line.’

    You & I are hoping for the same thing Beast, but I’m convinced that we need 1 more DT/NT to pull it off. Vea is our beast who forces the interior OLine to react to his presence, and that opens up all kinds of opportunities to create pressure on opposing QBs. BUT … historically Vea is off the field for at least one-third of the plays, and some games almost half the plays. I like our ‘key rotational DT/NT’ Greg Gaines because he’s very good IMO against the run, but he doesn’t ‘move the pile’ like Vea does. Bucs NEED another DT/NT beast to take on double-teams and still create interior pressure.

  16. Defense Rules Says:

    Hodad … ‘YaYa rarely won when he wasn’t double teamed.’

    I wonder how many OLBs do in fact win consistently against double teams Hodad. We’d be talking about an OLB ranging from about 240-270 lbs taking on 2 NFL starters weighing about twice that … whose whole job that play is to neutralize that 1 OLB.

    What I get concerned about on those plays where our OLB is double-teamed is that he’ll get ridden out of the play and lose contain, not that he still won’t be able to pressure the QB. Bucs gave up a LOT of explosive plays last year, and some of those were to fleet-footed QBs like the Ravens Lamar Jackson (9 runs for 52 yards in their win). One of the issues that I had with JTS is that he’d create pressure but then over-run the play and end up with nothing (plus lose contain).

  17. Simeon4HOF Says:

    Will be cool to see what number he selects.
    Think both he and Diaby have double digit Sacks this year as well

  18. VOT Says:

    It also makes the blitz game more effective – the double a gap, safety, corner – Todd loves to bring them from everywhere- with an actual threat on both edges you open up a lot of options

  19. Todd Says:

    Tampa is where troubled players go to positively hit CTRL-ALT-DEL. Fresh start. Player’s coach. Wise, mature team players. Great management support. BELIEF! An organization that thinks in cans, not can’ts.

    Hopeium pipe is PACKED!

  20. KABucs Says:

    I can live with the drought being extended as long as every starter on the d-line gets 9 sacks each each… and each backup gets 4.
    Go Bucs.

  21. ChiBuc Says:

    Write, print, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat….

  22. White Tiger Says:

    Agree with this – no way a rookie was going to correct the problem – no need to pull LB’s, corners, or safeties out of coverage to manufacture pressure. It speaks to incorrect thought proces that Bowles suddenly got stupid, or his scheme didn’t developed problems, he just didn’t have the edge support/personnel to maximize his scheme.

    The only way to correct this is by adding a player that has demonstrated the ability to record double digit sacks, without compromising the scheme.

    Haason Reddick can be a force multiplier for Bowles scheme. It won’t correct every problem, but if he can get back to form, with the right supporting cast, he improves the scheme.

    His interview certainly seems to show that his head is in the right place. Can’t wait to see what he can do – I believe he CAN get back – and he WANTS to show what he can do.

  23. SenileSenior Says:

    I agree with Defense Rules. We should draft another DT/NT. Find a beast at 330+ pounds to spell Vita Vea. There are a several with potential in this year’s draft. We should be able to find a CB and ILB as well.

    Go Bucs

 

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